The Bird Boy
by bamlight
Summary: Robin is pretty mysterious for a thirteen year old, to say the least. So when his past collides with his present, his new family have to help him move on to his future. And... Introducing  ?  Earth-16 Barbara Gordon!


Robin ran forward first, shooting a line at the next building while Batman was still retrieving his line gun. He swung in a smooth, practiced arc, flipping up onto the ledge purely for flair. Batman was slower, but far more impressive than the sprightly teenager as they made their way across the city the hard way. Above them, serving as back-up, the five other members of Robin's team sat comfortably in the bio-ship, observing from above. Dick could sense Miss Martian's worry through the telepathic link as he leaped and bounded across the tops of skyscrapers. The dynamic duo finally came to rest on a shorter building across from Dwight Tower, the focus of tonight's rather mysterious outing. Other than mob involvement, neither Robin nor his team knew anything about what was inside the Tower. Dick's thoughts were interrupted by Batman's telepathic command.

_Team, circle at ground level. Robin, go with them._

Somewhat unwillingly, Dick grabbed the rope that dangled from the ship as they sank slowly to the ground.

_I'm going in. Catch any strays._

With that, Batman crashed through the window, severing the telepathic link. Miss Martian and Superboy took the main door, while the other team members took entrances all around the building. Robin, perched on a ledge over the East entrance, attempted not to brood. The rest of the team would be able to hear any conscious thought about his frustration. Instead he listened to Wally and Artemis bicker telepathically. Aqualad's disapproval could be sensed even without the link. Superboy was bored, and Miss Martian was nervous.

They began to hear the sound of the scuffle through Superboy's ears. They listened as Batman fought at least ten people, each terrified by the man they lived in fear of. Suddenly, the noise stopped. M'gann had severed the link.

Alone with his thoughts, Robin felt suddenly apprehensive. What had been routine now seemed unusual. He tensed as he heard crashing from inside the building, and flipped down in front of the door as it swung open, revealing a tall, spare man in his middle fourties. He was older, graying around the temples. And scared, but he was the same man. Robin said it without thinking.

"Zucco." The gangster looked confused, but he pulled out a revolver, pointing it the youth. Zucco hadn't connected the boy he saw with the one from five years ago. Instead he saw the fear and anger on Robin's face as a sign of his own intimidation. He walked slowly around the boy, passing him. When Robin had his back to the door, Zucco walked up to him and swung the handle of the gun at the teenager's head.

Dick woke up in the Batcave, still groggy. There was a dull pain above his left ear, which he could not remember getting and a group of people standing around his bed. All of these people seemed to be vaguely familiar, but somehow strange. The colours in their clothes all seemed a bit too bright, as did the light in the room. Dick reached up to his face in an attempt to shield himself from the yellow of Wally's costume, and was surprised not to feel the latex of his mask beneath his fingers. His eyes were completely exposed to the room. He tried to cover his motion to cover them by moving his hand back to feel the tender spot above his ear. It was swollen, and the hair above it was sticky. When he took his hand away, the tips of his fingers looked red. Artemis knew, going to the same school, but the vulnerability of his bare eyes felt… wrong.

"Rob? Dick?" Kid Flash looked nervous as his friend looked up at him, seemingly without seeing Wally. Dick's eyes looked empty, somehow.

"Dick. What happened?" Bruce still had cowl on, though if the room knew who Robin was, there was little point. Something seemed to be caught in Dick's throat. He swallowed, and managed to say, quietly, what had happened.

"Zucco." Neither of the pair's expression changed, but the feeling in the room changed drastically. Batman's shoulders changed the way they were set. They fell slightly. All of the rigidity vanished from his posture. Dick's eyes fell to the foot of the hospital bed, and his hands clenched ever so slightly. The team looked confused, glancing between teacher and protégé.

"Tony Zucco killed my parents." Dick said in a hollow kind of voice. Batman put a hand on the boy's shoulder, and the rest of the team stood in shocked silence.


End file.
